Denbigh Plantation Site | |
 Denbigh Plantation springhouse in the 1930s | |
   | |
| Location | 10 Blacksmythe Ln., Newport News, Virginia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 37°5′24.3″N76°32′20″W / 37.090083°N 76.53889°W |
| Area | 390 acres (160 ha) |
| Built | 1630 |
| NRHP reference No. | 70000873 [1] |
| VLR No. | 121-0008 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | February 16, 1970 |
| Designated VLR | December 2, 1969 [2] |
Denbigh Plantation Site, also known as Mathews Manor, is a historic archaeological site located at Newport News, Virginia.
Mathews Manor was built about 1626 for Captain Samuel Mathews. The post-medieval Mathews Manor included a projecting porch and center chimney, both characteristic of Virginia's earliest substantial dwellings. Mathews's house burned about 1650 and was replaced with a smaller house nearby, probably by his son, Samuel Mathews, Jr. (1630-1660), governor of Colonial Virginia (1656-1660).
By the mid-18th century, it was owned by generations of the Digges family, first by Cole Digges, whose first name reflects his mother's Cole family. The Digges family referred to the property as Denbigh plantation and constructed a manor house nearby. Family members also owned Boldrup plantation in Warwick county as well as plantations in York County. Cole Digges and William Digges represented Warwick County as burgesses (and Cole Digges served on the Virginia Governor's Council) before the American Revolutionary War, and William Digges Jr. (who married one of his uncle's daughters) served in the a revolutionary convention and in the Virginia House of Delegates after he sold Denbigh plantation in 1787. His brother Cole Digges also served in the Virginia Ratification Convention. [3]
As the Newport News area developed in the early 20th century, part of Denbigh was sold to Mennonites, who continued to farm the land, as well as constructed a dairy and began residential development. Following World War II, Warwick County was reincorporated as Warwick City in 1952, then merged into the City of Newport News in 1958. Many former plantations became residential developments and/or industrial parks, but archeological research conducted first. Colonial Williamsburg's renowned archeologist Ivor Noël Hume excavated the Denbigh Plantation Site during the 1960s. His findings revealed much about early domestic life in the Virginia colony. In addition to the manor house, the site also includes several 17th-century industrial sites and the archeological remains of the 18th-century home of the Digges family. The foundations of both the Digges and Mathews houses have been capped and delineate their outlines, one with a historical marker in a small park at 10 Blacksmythe Lane. An 18th-century dairy and early 19th-century kitchen associated with the Digges homestead are still standing. The earliest known porcelain in Virginia, as well as other early artifacts, were found here during excavation. Although now surrounded by residential development, these sites are preserved within neighborhood parks. [3]
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. [1]
Newport News is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the fifth-most populous city in Virginia and 140th-most populous city in the United States.
Warwick County was a county in Southeast Virginia that was created from Warwick River Shire, one of eight created in the Virginia Colony in 1634. It became the City of Newport News on July 16, 1952. Located on the Virginia Peninsula on the northern bank of the James River between Hampton Roads and Jamestown, the area consisted primarily of farms and small unincorporated villages until the arrival of the Peninsula Extension of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in 1881 and development led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington.
Warwick River Shire was one of eight shires created in colonial Virginia in 1634. It was located on the Virginia Peninsula on the northern shore of the James River between Hampton Roads and the Jamestown Settlement.
Denbigh is a community in Newport News, Virginia. It was previously the County Seat of Warwick County, Virginia until the county became the independent city of Warwick, Virginia in 1952. Warwick and Newport News merged in 1958 to form the present-day city of Newport News.
Endview Plantation is an 18th-century plantation, including a park and historic home now operated by the independent city of Newport News, Virginia, located on Virginia State Route 238 in the Lee Hall community.
Richneck Plantation was located on the Virginia Peninsula on the northern shore of the James River between Hampton Roads and Jamestown in the English colony of Virginia. The Richneck manor house's foundation was discovered during construction of the George J. McIntosh elementary school, and became an archeological dig, then listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Lower Brandon Plantation is located on the south shore of the James River in present-day Prince George County, Virginia.
Captain Samuel Mathews was a Virginia planter, political figure, and the father of Governor Samuel Mathews.
Lt. Col. Samuel Mathews (1630–1660), Commonwealth Governor of Virginia, of Warwick County in the English Colony of Virginia, was a member of the House of Burgesses, the Governor's Council, and served as Commonwealth Governor of Virginia from 1656 until he died in office in January 1660. There was no Royal Governorship at the time of the "Protectorate", and the Governor technically answered to the Cromwellian Parliament, although Royalist sentiment was prevalent in the colony of Virginia at this time. The former Royalist governor Berkeley arrived to replace him on March 13, 1660.
Ionia is a frame house near Trevilians, Virginia, that was the centerpiece of a large plantation in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Built around 1775, Ionia was the home of the Watson family. It was built as Clover Plains by Major James Watson, the son of a Scottish immigrant, in a fertile area of Louisa County, Virginia that is now a National Historic Landmark District, the Green Springs National Historic Landmark District. The plantation was the third largest in Louisa County in the late 18th century, leading to the nickname "Wheat Stacks" for Watson as a result of his prosperity. After Major Watson's death in 1845 the house passed to his son, Dr. George Watson, who renamed the house "Ionia" and, since he lived in Richmond, used it as a summer residence. George Watson died in 1854, leaving Ionia to his widow, who lived there until the 1870s. Following her death in 1879 the property was subdivided. The Watson family went on to build a number of houses in the Green Springs area.
Mayfield Cottage is a historic plantation house located near the grounds of Central State Hospital near Petersburg, Dinwiddie County, Virginia. Believed to be the oldest existing brick house in Dinwiddie County, it was built around 1750 and the residence of Robert Ruffin until 1769, when he moved to King William County. From 1885, the property was used by the hospital for its headquarters. The house remained part of the hospital complex until 1969. It was moved from its original site about .5 miles (0.80 km) to the southeast of the present site in 1969.
Boldrup Plantation Archeological Site is a historic archaeological site located at Newport News, Virginia. A modern residential development has succeeded the 17th-century plantation. Three successive colonial governors lived at Boldrup : John Harvey, Samuel Stephens (1629-1669) and William Berkeley (1605-1677). The last owned it through his wife, Frances Culpeper Berkeley, who with her new husband sold it to another member of the Virginia Governor's Council William Cole. Although it remained in the Cole family for another two generations, his namesake grandson William Cole III, advertised it for sale in 1776 and again in 1782, by which time he was living at Buckland plantation in Charles City County, which he had also inherited. Soon thereafter, Boldrup was owned by Judge Richard Cary, who was married to Mary Cole, daughter of William Cole Jr. and lived at Peartree Hall nearby, and at his death bequeathed it to his son Miles Cary. The Cary family owned several nearby plantations in Warwick and adjoining counties, including Richneck, Marshfield and Windmill Point, but never resided at Boldrup.
First Denbigh Parish Church Archeological Site is a historic archaeological site located at Newport News, Virginia. The site is located on the bluff overlooking the Warwick River at the mouth of Church Creek. It took its name from nearby Denbigh Plantation and was constructed in 1636. A new structure was built at a nearby site by 1686 and replaced the former building. A frame structure for Warwick Parish was built on the site about 1774 and the Baptists began using it by 1834.
Fort Mattapony/Ryefield is a historic archaeological site located near Walkerton, King and Queen County, Virginia. The Fort Mattapony/Ryefield archeological sites, which has been dated archeologically to the fourth quarter of the 17th century, are located in a one-acre area on prominent grassy hilltop overlooking the Mattaponi River, Walkerton and Locust Grove. Collectively designated 44KQ7 in Virginia's official inventory of archeological sites, the site consists of two closely associated components, the Fort Mattapony storehouse and a domestic structure called Ryefield. After abandonment of the fort at the close of the 17th century and the domestic structure by the mid-18th century, a later colonial plantation, Locust Grove, developed in the surrounding area, which continues to be occupied by descendants.
Leesylvania was a plantation and historic home in Prince William County, Virginia, now part of Leesylvania State Park. During the 18th century, it was the home of Henry Lee II, his family and numerous slaves, and known for its productive land and especially the quality of its tobacco. Lee's sons Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee, Richard Bland Lee and Charles Lee, held prominent positions in Virginia during the American Revolutionary War and early federal government.
Cole Digges (1691-1744) was a Virginia merchant, planter and politician who helped establish Yorktown, Virginia, and served more than two decades on the Virginia Governor's Council after representing Warwick County in the House of Burgesses.
William Cole (1691-1729) was a planter and politician who represented Warwick County in the House of Burgesses (1715-1728).
William Digges was a prominent planter and politician in the Colony of Virginia, who represented Warwick County, Virginia in the House of Burgesses from 1752 until 1771.
Edward Harwood was a planter, justice of the peace, military officer and politician who represented Warwick County in the Virginia House of Delegates.
